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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23905963">The Stars In My Eyes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluxx/pseuds/Fluxx'>Fluxx</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Modern with Magic, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Dark Fairy Tale Elements, Eren finds him, Fae Magic, Fairy Tale Elements, Flowers, Happy Ending, Inspired by Fanart, Inspired by Music, Leaving Home, Levi gets lost in the woods, M/M, Monster Eren Yeager, Spooky, death mention, forest spirit, satyr!Eren</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 18:33:34</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,133</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23905963</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fluxx/pseuds/Fluxx</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi leads a dull and boring life in the city - and, as such, his restlessness gives him a penchant for bad grades and trouble. In completing a bonus assignment to address the former, he inevitably finds himself falling into the later. He ventures into the surrounding forest despite every warning not to, and before long comes face-to-face with the cause of all those warnings: the infamous Forest King.</p><p>
  <em>Based on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/ningyo_gaaru/">IG:Ningyo Gaaru</a>'s <a href="https://www.patreon.com/posts/36140643">April SFW Patreon reward</a>, which was inspired by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EIeUlvHAiM">Cosmic Love by Florence + The Machine</a>. Go <a href="https://www.patreon.com/ningyogaaru">become a patron</a> for the full image!</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Track <a href="https://constantfluxx.tumblr.com/tagged/fluxx-fics">#Fluxx Fics</a> on <a href="https://constantfluxx.tumblr.com">tumblr</a> for more fics!</em>
</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Levi &amp; Eren Yeager, Levi/Eren Yeager</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>80</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Stars In My Eyes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Levi sighed, crouching beside a little garden box, one of many that had been installed throughout the city as part of a larger beautification effort. His eyes fell to the trio of large, light purple petals, each sporting a small yellow patch near the pistil. “<em>Iris ensata</em>,” he muttered, reciting the name from memory. He pulled out his tablet, snapped a photo, then stood and continued on down the sidewalk. He mumbled to himself as he walked, hand flying across his device to quickly jot down his notes. “Japanese water iris. Good news, glad tidings and loyalty. Late spring to midsummer.”</p><p>He paused, looking up to survey his surroundings. People wandered by in every direction, quietly commuting home from a long day’s work. All around, a jungle of cement, glass, and plastic towered above him, hardly the kind of place one typically found an abundance of flowers. Then again, that was rather the point - wouldn’t be much of a bonus marks assignment if that weren’t the case.</p><p>A spot of red caught the corner of his eye. He looked both ways, hurried across the street, and stepped up to a storefront window that displayed, among other things, a small vase presenting a single bloom. He lifted his tablet and snapped a photo. “<em>Dianthus caryophyllus</em>. Carnation. Clove pink.” He turned away, resuming his search as he typed. “Love. Late spring to midsummer.”</p><p>The information came easily to him, like he were reading it off a page. No, simple knowledge had never been the problem when it came to Professor Zoë’s biology courses. He just… didn’t <em> care</em>, really. It wasn’t that he didn’t understand the importance of it all - he did, mostly. He just found it all incredibly dull. On some level, perhaps coming so close to failing every single semester, only to squeak by at the last opportunity, was simply his way of making things more interesting. A way to differentiate the days, weeks, months, years.</p><p>A tree disturbed the otherwise plain walk up ahead. Some life around its roots had just begun to bloom: vibrant blue cones around white centers. He approached and knelt to get a better look, then nodded and directed his tablet’s camera at the spot of color in this sea of grey. “<em>Ipomoea nil</em>. Morning glory. Brief love and bond of love. Summer to early autumn.”</p><p>
  <em> “Everything must exist in a balance,” the Professor had said. “This is our home, the one that we’ve built for ourselves and our community. But we were not the first ones here, and we must pay respect to that. We must remind ourselves of the world that exists beyond our artificial sanctuary.” </em>
</p><p>It was a commonly held belief in this town. Odd for a city of its size, it was still to this day surrounded on three sides by thick forest that pressed right up against the fringe buildings. Decades ago, various development companies had tried to erect new housing complexes, and cut down some of the closest trees to do so. Each of them ended in financial ruin: tools and supplies went missing, structures fell apart. Laborers suffered injuries, and though each was benign in and of themselves - a twisted ankle or camped wrist - it happened frequently enough that folks suspected there was some kind of rampant toxin in the area.</p><p>Or, as the superstitious among them liked to claim, the Forest King.</p><p>“<em>Hydrangea involucrata</em>.” He craned his head back, then lifted his tablet towards the 2nd story balcony from which a flowered shrub overflowed. Some people, in his opinion, took the whole “pay tribute to the forest” thing a little too far - but, hey, if it was going to help him pass this class, he wouldn’t complain about it. “Hydrangea. Apologies and gratitude. Spring to early autumn.”</p><p>He didn’t believe all that hocus-pocus stuff. Sure, it was strange that you couldn’t even find those construction sites anymore, that not even a year after they’d been shut down the forest had completely reclaimed the land. Personally? He was convinced such things were more than a little exaggerated. Maybe they’d run into some kind of legal hitch, or city ordinance, and they blamed it on a fairy tale to try and preserve their pride. Not that he blamed them - he well understood the need to make things more than they were. To believe things that weren’t true, that weren’t there, simply to get yourself out of bed in the morning. Sometimes, he even envied them, for at least they’d found some way to enjoy their dead-end lives.</p><p>A cluster of orange. <em> That’ll make five</em>, he thought, closing in on the plant that’d broken through a building’s foundation. He knelt and captured the flower’s photo, droning off his notes as he did. “<em>Osmanthus fragrans</em>. Orange osmanthus. Truth and noble person.”</p><p>He broke off short of his droning, a frown disturbing his face. He lowered his tablet to instead focus on the plant, certain he’d gotten something wrong - and more than a bit perturbed by such a notion. “Autumn… ?” he murmured to himself, eyes scanning every detail of the little, blooming sprout, barely along its journey to a full-fledged shrub. He glanced at the upper corner of his tablet, where the date and time were clearly displayed.</p><p>21°C. 4:37pm. May 28th.</p><p>He stood up and backed away, eyes slowly scaling the building. It was far from the correct season for orange osmanthus to be blooming. Perhaps someone planted it? But, it was unlikely someone would, or even could, do so through the cement like that. It’d be much easier to use a flowerpot, or one of the city’s garden boxes. And anyway, why would anyone <em> want </em> to plant a flowering shrub underneath a building?</p><p>As Levi quietly puzzled through this conundrum, his eyes began to wander, and it was only then that he realized where his urban wandering had led him. Off to his left, the city ended in an abrupt, tall wall, covered in moss and vines. Beyond, Levi could see the treetops poking high up into the sky, like a dark green mirror of the city beside them. Some of the brick had dislodged over the years, allowing for the encroaching plantlife to poke through the manmade barrier and slowly, bit by bit, crumble away at the mortar to form larger and larger holes. Presumably, the city’s ban on development by the forest’s edge barred the wall from proper maintenance, and the ramifications of that negligence - or fear - were beginning to manifest.</p><p>For a moment, he simply stood and stared, painfully aware of the tumult beginning to stir in his chest. He could feel the forest’s lure, the way it enticed him with mystery, incongruence… <em> difference</em>. And, logically, he knew it was nonsensical: there was no reason to venture beyond the city’s walls, not <em> really</em>, while plenty of ordinances gave ample reason to stay within, each of them tacked with their own, hefty fine. On the other hand, that very fact was like a dare, challenging his beliefs - after all, those restrictions were based on empty superstition, weren’t they? If he didn’t believe those tales, wouldn’t it be truer to his rebellious character to defy the rules those lies had constructed?</p><p>He hesitated, eyes falling down to the cluster of orange petals at his feet… Then, slowly, he stepped towards the wall. “I’m still inside the city,” he muttered, as if constructing the defense he’d recite to the authorities. “I haven’t broken any laws.” Of course, he knew the word that would inevitably follow:</p><p>
  <em> Yet. </em>
</p><p>As Levi grew closer to the wall, he slowly grew able to pick out more details of the odd vines crawling across the brick. In particular, he realized small, white flowers dotted the vines, their centers decorated with thin, pinkish growths. “Another one for Professor Zoë,” he mused, already pulling out his tablet and preparing to capture the photo. The observation, registration, and reciting was automatic, already spilling off his tongue before he fully recognized what he was saying. “<em>Prunus mume</em>. Japanese plum. Elegance, faith—” He abruptly cut off when his mind caught up with his words, then took a step back and craned his neck to look up along the twisting plant. “Also out of season,” he muttered, as if personally offended by this impossibility. “And not a vine. These belong on a fruit-bearing tree.”</p><p>He looked up and down the wall. It stretched on and on, until it curved out of sight behind other buildings. It probably lined the full border of the city - he’d never really been all that interested in it, so couldn’t quite say for sure. Regardless, Levi could clearly see it was meant to keep the two worlds separated, but had utterly failed to do so. Not but a few yards down, the vines had grown so rampant that a significant portion of the brick had been forced from its lodging, creating a breach just large enough for a moderately-sized animal to squeeze through.</p><p>Or, perhaps, Levi.</p><p>“None of this makes any sense,” he murmured as he approached the hole. Upon closer inspection, he felt confident he <em> could </em> squirm his way between the vines, though it likely wouldn’t be without his fair share of cuts and bruises. Still, he judged it’d be a worthwhile endeavor. He felt certain he’d find even more misplaced and out-of-season flowers beyond the wall, if only because that was clearly where the vine-blossoming Japanese plum flowers were spreading from. “Professor would be very interested in this unnatural flora.”</p><p>His backpack was the first to go. He slipped the strap up and over his head and pushed it through the gap easily enough. It dropped on the ground with a mild <em> thump </em>, there to wait patiently for its owner to follow suit. With his arm already partway through, Levi groped around in search of a decent hold, then scoped out ample footing with his toe. This proved a bit more difficult, as he had to dig around between and under the thick cords of plantlife, but he persevered, eventually working it out well enough to step up and transfer the full of his weight upon the deteriorating construction. At last claiming a stable position, he sucked in his gut, then slowly, bit by tiny bit, eased himself further and further through the tight gateway. The jagged edges of the dismantled mortar tugged at his clothes, while the relatively softer rounds of the vines shifted around his form. In a way, it truly felt like the city were trying to hold him back while the forest invited him in - and, for all the grey monotony he knew awaited him back home, he knew precisely which effort he’d aid.</p><p>Finally, his head popped through the other side of the wall, and then his shoulders, his chest, and at long last his narrow hips and spindly legs. “Gah!” he gasped as he fell through, relieved to at last refill his lungs with air. He crashed on the ground beside his bag, and was immediately put off by the odd, soft brush of grass against his skin. In a panicked jolt, he rolled onto all fours and pushed himself back to his feet, chest heaving and a tiny smile touching his lips. Slowly, he knelt back towards the ground, then reached out to run his fingers along the gentle blades. “Heh…” he murmured, marveling over the strange texture. “Don’t have this in the city.”</p><p>Levi’s eyes lifted from the blades of grass at his fingertips, at last beholding the forest in all its dominating, expansive glory. Trees, taller than any he’d seen before and denser than even the city’s riches parks, stretched as far as the eye could see, so thick around a man could easily fully hide behind its trunk. They were packed so closely together than the sunlight barely seeped through the layers upon layers of leaves, rustling crisply in the breeze. More grass blanketed the ground, disrupted by the occasional bush or fern. It was… a lot, to say the least. A completely different world than the one he’d known all his life. How could such a magnificent secret have been hiding here, just beyond his fingertips?</p><p>Raising back to a stand, snatching up his backpack as he did, he looked over his shoulder and nodded at the wall-assaulting vines with a smirk. “Thanks.”</p><p>His gaze drifted down the wall towards the apricot vine. It was easy enough to locate, as its length was littered with more of the small, white flowers, even more so on this side of the wall. As he walked towards it, his eyes tried to follow the vine’s path. He trailed it as far as the first few yards away from the wall, but soon thereafter he lost track of it behind some trees. Interestingly enough, however, when he drew close his eyes caught more clusters of orange osmanthus, sprinkled here-and-there about the forest floor. Swiftly, he dug his tablet back out and began documenting as much of his observations as he could, in part because he knew no one would ever believe him otherwise and in part because he was confident doing so would <em> guarantee </em> his passing Professor Zoë’s class. He noted the time of day, the temperature, the direction the blooms faced relative to the sun. He described the colors, the textures, the smells. He recorded, as best he could, the nature of how the plants grew and spread among the surrounding flora.</p><p>At one point, his screen began to flicker. Levi’s eyes snapped to the top-right corner, then frowned: it still read a solid 79% battery life. “Damn thing,” he cursed through his teeth. He smacked the side of it in an attempt to stabilize the display. For a moment, it seemed it might have worked, the rendering of his notes holding steady… But then, all went black. “Shit!” he hissed, barely stopping himself from throwing it against a tree - even still, his hands gripped the edges so tightly the metal casing creaked under his fingers. Before he could inflict permanent damage, he stuffed the device back in his backpack, then stood up to survey his surroundings. “Guess it’s time to head back, then.”</p><p>His stomach pitched.</p><p>Levi whirled, eyes frantically scanning the surrounding forest. Trees, trees, and more trees. He looked down to the vines he’d been studying, but he had to squint to even find the right one, and even then could barely trace it back to the last tree it’d looped around - much less all the way back to the wall. He craned his head back to gaze up at the canopy. Perhaps if he could find the sun, or even the stars, he could discern his direction from their orientation? His desperation worsened with every sweep of his search, each one met with only darkness.</p><p>What time was it? How long had he been wandering? How far had he traveled? He checked his watch, only to find it was in much the same state as his tablet. <em> Should have stuck with analog! </em> he scolded himself as he returned to scanning the forest, though he wondered if that would’ve actually made any difference.</p><p>A new thought surfaced. He searched the ground, locating the patchwork of scuffed footprints around his feet. <em> If I can at least figure out which direction I’d been walking in… </em> He dropped to the ground for a better look at the prints. Close by, they circled, the result of his panic. Scanning around the edges though, he finally found a lonesome print just on the edge of the others, followed by another just a little further away. “There!” he exclaimed with relief, getting back to his feet and aligning himself towards the prints. “Okay. So, if I walk in the exact opposite direction of these prints…”</p><p>As he set off once more, his renewed sense of direction helped calm his nerves. He leaned into this as much as possible, focusing on keeping his stride straight and true. Unfortunately, he now walked with an awareness he’d lacked before, and he could swear he <em> felt </em> the darkness pressing against his body, heard the thinning of air as the vastness of the forest closed in around him. He realized he was sprinting, and swiftly running out of air, and so all at once stopped himself to lean against a tree and catch his breath.</p><p>He looked at his feet, looked up ahead of him, looked back behind him. Nothing had changed… nothing he could perceive, anyhow. Frustration began to boil over. He was <em> way </em> out of his element. He was <em> completely </em> alone. He was totally, <em> utterly </em> lost. Emotion, more than he’d ever dealt with back in the city, swelled up inside him and crumbled him to the ground. His face fell into his hands, fingertips digging into his skull. It was only a matter of time before it all grew too much to contain, and the first wet droplets of his distress broke free of his clenched eyes to race down his flustered cheeks.</p><p>He cried. When was the last time he’d cried?</p><p>He wasn’t sure how long he sat there, pouring his misery into his palms. He wasn’t sure of anything anymore, to be honest. But, at some point, his shaking shoulders began to still, and his heaving breaths began to steady. An empty kind of stillness came over him, the kind that came with the acceptance that a return to any sense of normalcy would come only at the whim of Lady Luck, and that even if it <em> did </em> things would hardly be the same as they’d been before.</p><p>That bizarre peace was the only reason he didn’t scream when he heard the rustling of nearby bushes.</p><p>Levi looked up from his hands and immediately set his gaze in the direction of the sound, just catching the fading shifting of the leaves. His breath caught in his chest, and he quickly pushed himself up to his feet, eagerly scanning the surrounding vegetation for any sign of life. “Hello?” he called out, still undecided on whether or not he hoped for a reply. Silence endured for a moment, and then another rustle caught his eye - smaller and subtler this time. His focus snapped to that point, and he furrowed his brow, squinting through the dark to try and see what hid on the other side. As his eyes adjusted, details slowly grew more and more defined. Soon, he could barely perceive a darker form hidden among the branches and leaves…</p><p>…A face?</p><p>He blinked in surprise as he began to barely pick out the faint luminescence of a pair of eyes. Subconsciously, he leaned closer, then eagerly wove his hand to invite the face out from its hiding. “Come out, please! I won’t hurt you!” His heart raced, giddy from the discovery - what were the chances he’d run into someone else from the city?! He stopped waving to reach out, offering his hand. “We can help each other,” he replied, hoping beyond all hope he hadn’t simply gone mad and started hallucinating.</p><p>Levi watched the eyes shift amid the leaves, turning its focus to his hand. What little expression he could perceive seemed hesitant - nonetheless, the bushed began to stir once more, and then a long, slender hand poked its way out from the leaves to slide slowly, cautiously towards Levi’s. “Yes,” Levi encouraged, “that’s it. Come on…”</p><p>Warmth spread across his palm. Something tingled along his skin, something he couldn’t quite place. Intrigued by the sensation, he folded his fingers around the hand, then looked down to study it. Only then did he realize the hand’s peculiar length - and not just of the hand itself, but the fingers as well, and even the nails. For a brief, fleeting moment, he posited the hand belonged to a girl that kept her manicure long. That thought was swiftly put to rest when more rustling disturbed the bushes, more boldly this time, and suddenly more form was surfacing out from the leaves.</p><p>His heart froze, and his chest grew tight.</p><p>First came the antlers. Long, smooth, and slender, Levi couldn’t be blamed for mistaking them for branches at first, leafless though they were. Their pointed tips broke out from the cover like the tips of a crown set upon a head of gently flowing brown hair. It draped from the head like light curtains, swaying ethereally in the sparse wind that occasionally shuddered through the forest. It framed the eyes Levi had seen through the bushes, large blue orbs he could now see gave off their own faint glow from where they’d been set into a pale face unmarred by time and burden. The ears were pointed, as if to remind Levi of the visage’s alienness - indeed, he couldn’t be blamed for forgetting, as the creature’s continued rise bore a tightly muscled torso and pair of arms that were indistinguishable from the university’s marble statues of ancient gods and deities. The creature appeared as a young man, though his true age was impossible to discern, and he gazed down at Levi with an otherworldly intelligence from no less than seven, maybe even eight feet tall. The cause of this impressive height soon revealed itself as he fully stepped forth from the obscuring underbrush, the leaves dragging against a soft, plush pelt that blanketed his entire lower half, his legs ending in hooves and a large and upright bushy tail flicking at his rear.</p><p>The Forest King stepped forward, and Levi immediately jumped back, slamming up against his tree. His heart hammered away in his chest, and he was certain fear pulled his expression taut, but the Forest King merely continued to stare blankly at him, making it impossible to know just what thoughts exactly crossed his mind. The aura he exuded was oppressive enough - the closing distance made it all the worse. For fear it alone would soon crush him under its weight, Levi opted for submission, a move he would never have dreamed he’d make.</p><p>All of this was so far beyond his every dream.</p><p>“Forgive me, Forest King!” he cried out, converted to a believer in a matter of seconds. “I was wrong to venture here, into your domain. With your blessing, I will return to where I belong and never again encroach upon your territory!”</p><p>Silence endured. Still, the Forest King inched closer. Levi belatedly realized he was still holding the Forest King’s hand, and became painfully aware of how sweaty and clammy his own had become in the other’s heated grip. What seemed most intriguing, however, was the fact the Forest King had made no move to tighten his grip or dig his nails. In fact, the way the Forest King held his hand felt almost… tender? He began to wonder if the Forest King had even understood anything he’d said, a question soon answered by the sudden, slight tip of the Forest King’s head, his eyes starting to slide curiously over Levi’s whole body.</p><p>It made Levi feel small, like a sculpture to be scrutinized and judged. He <em> loathed </em> that feeling, and he leaned into that resentment to strengthen his stand. “I really <em> must </em> go,” he tried again, forcing his voice to sound firmer this time. “I don’t belong here. I should leave you in peace.” He had to be careful not to overstep and insult the Forest King. If he just kept framing his desires as things the Forest King wanted for himself…</p><p>Suddenly, the Forest King was shifting again. Levi froze, certain this would be the moment he’d get run through with one of those lethal-looking antlers. But just before they pricked even his jacket, the Forest King moved his head to the side, and Levi finally realized he was looking at… <em> sniffing </em> at… his backpack. Levi hesitated, then slowly, carefully, so as to not startle the Forest King and get himself skewered, reached into his backpack and pulled out his tablet. “This…?” he murmured, watching the Forest King’s attentions follow the device. “It’s… I was using it earlier,” he replied, awkwardly trying to wake the device up with only his one free hand. “It’s broken now. I was using it to document flowers.”</p><p>The Forest King perked up at that, causing Levi to jerk back in a mild panic. “F-Flowers?!” he repeated, both excited and terrified by how interested the Forest King seemed in this one word. “I… I was looking for flowers,” he explained, hoping it’d appease the bizarre creature.</p><p>With no indication of whether or not it did, the Forest King turned and began walking off. Only <em> then </em> did his hold tighten, abruptly tugging Levi along behind him. “Where are we going?!” Levi demanded, thinking to resist but certain doing so could only end badly. Instead, while the Forest King preoccupied himself with leading him through the trees, Levi scoured his memory for every slightest mention he’d ever haphazardly caught of the Forest King and the tales surrounding him. He still didn’t know how much of it was truth versus superstition, but his life currently depended on him knowing all of it and being prepared, which meant assuming it was true unless proven otherwise.</p><p>
  <em> “Don’t let the Forest King snatch ya!” Furlan had once teased him. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> They were just children, then. Isabel had gotten her ball lodged in a crack in the wall. Levi rolled his eyes and continued reaching for it. “I’m not getting snatched.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Isabel punched Furlan’s arm. “That’s not funny! It’s really happened, you know!” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> He finally freed the ball and tossed it her way. Furlan intercepted it and began tossing it up in the air. “Please. Those kids were just running away from home! There’s no such thing as a ‘Forest King’ - never was, never will be.” </em>
</p><p>Levi’s eyes fell to his captured hand and swallowed. Was there any way to escape?</p><p>
  <em> “The offering, Levi!” Uncle Kenny sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Damn it, boy. If we don’t appease the Forest King—” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Yeah, yeah,” Levi cut him off, stomping back to the kitchen to snatch the wicker basket off the counter. “Poor harvest. Bad weather. Truly awful.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Uncle Kenny shook his head as Levi passed, then pulled the door shut behind them. It was a short walk to the festival grounds, but it wouldn’t be without its preaching. “One day you’ll learn, boy. Gods let me be there when you do!” As they descended the steps and left their apartment building, he leaned forward to peer over Levi’s shoulder and into the basket. “Nuts. Dried fruit. Jerky. Wooden top. It’s all there?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Levi plucked the top from the basket and inspected it with a distantly suspicious quirk of his brow. “The rest of it I get - no one wants a hangry spirit roaming around. But what the hell’s this for?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> His uncle took on a wistful look, picking it from Levi’s fingertips to let it roll upon his palm. “Gifts for the taken. More symbolic than functional, really - our hope that he’s still got them and is caring for them.” </em>
</p><p>Hope sparked within him. He didn’t listen to hardly any of the customs and practices the city had around the Forest King, save for one: <em> always </em> have a bag of trail mix on you, in case you needed an offering. Admittedly, he only adhered to that practice because it made for an emergency snack, but the important part was he knew he had a small pouch packed away somewhere in the bottom of his backpack. So, when they stopped - <em> if </em> they stopped - then maybe he could fish it out and offer it to the Forest King, and he’d be free to return home?</p><p>If he could <em> find </em> “home,” of course.</p><p>
  <a href="https://www.patreon.com/ningyogaaru">  </a>
</p><p>He tried not to dwell on it too much. The important part was: the Forest King hadn’t killed him. So long as he could keep himself alive, keep the Forest King appeased, he could buy himself time to figure the rest out. Of course, the key to that was figuring out what the hell the Forest King wanted, a question none of his recollections helped answer. Instead of reviewing the past, he turned to carefully observing the present - perhaps he’d find some clue about where they were going, or why? The trees and flora rushed by on either side as the Forest King led him further and further through his domain. As far as Levi could tell, there was nothing distinguishing any of it from any other part of the forest - they could just as well have been running in circles, and Levi would be none the wiser. So, instead of the environment, he turned to his guide, craning his head back to get a better look of the Forest King. The wind against their faces swept through the Forest King’s hair with a majestic elegance, making it seem akin to a curtain hung around an open window. As it wove, Levi caught glimpses of the Forest King’s turning face, and upon it the tiniest hints of mannerism and expression. His lips remained mostly still, closed in a gentle line that betrayed how little he was exerting himself - was he concerned about running too fast? Occasionally, an ear would flick, and his head would whip in its direction - was he wary of something else in the forest? Whenever Levi managed to catch sight of the Forest King’s eyes, he saw their glimmer dart back-and-forth, hold for a moment, then dart again - was he searching for something?</p><p>It seemed like an eternity before the Forest King finally began to slow down - but then again, Levi’s grasp of space and time had started fading long before now, so who really was he to say how long it’d truly been? In any case, his care for keeping track had drifted alongside his senses, leaving behind only a dangerous curiosity, the kind that had gotten him into this mess in the first place. With the world slowing down around them, Levi could see the subtle differences that had seeped into his environment, could smell new aromas wafting through the air. When he looked to the Forest King, his veil-like hair settling into a strange float about his face, he caught the faintest trace of a curl along his lips, and a sparkle in his eye. Relief washed over Levi: whatever the Forest King had brought them to, it pleased him, and Levi could reasonably expect to survive at least a little longer.</p><p>Levi didn’t have to wonder for long just what that was. They soon came to a halt, the air rich and sweet as it flowed through Levi’s nose and filled his lungs. The air felt cooler here - not cold, but the soothing kind, like the refreshing calm of eucalyptus. He felt an odd breed of clarity, all the world’s colors, sounds, smells, tastes, and textures resonating through him more boldly than before. He was still adjusting to these heightened sensations when he felt the Forest King’s hand begin to loosen around his hand, suddenly pulling all of his focus to the Forest King with an unspoken question.</p><p>He blinked his mind clear of it. <em> Why would I be worried? </em> Recovering from the strange feeling, he let his hand fall back down to his side and looked before him.</p><p>A gasp fell from his lips.</p><p>Slowly, carefully, he stepped forward into the scene he’d been presented with. Brilliant colors burst all around him in a myriad of shapes and sizes. He now understood why the air smelled so rich - the whole grove he stepped into was loaded to the brim with an unimaginable variety of flora, soaking the air with their intoxicating fragrance. Levi’s jaw fell agape and his eyes grew wide to behold such majesty, a whole world of life he’d never imagined even possible. Some of the blooms looked similar enough to flowers he’d seen in textbooks before to seem familiar, but he felt quite certain none of them were possible by the human understanding of things, much less actually themselves documented in any tome. He reached out to draw his fingertips along the nearest petals and found they were soft as silk, and delicate enough that he quickly pulled his hand away for fear the touch alone would cause them to crumble.</p><p>He turned to gawk at the Forest King, his head heavy with awe. “This… is your doing?” he questioned, gesturing to the flowers around him with an open hand.</p><p>An intense look had taken residence in the Forest King’s eyes. Something… hopeful. Expectant. He hesitated, then inched closer and lifted a twig-like finger to point at Levi’s backpack. His head tilted, and still he stared. Waiting.</p><p>Levi winced. “My notes?” He looked over his shoulder, casting his gaze about the garden… and then the Forest King’s meaning finally dawned on him, as unlikely as it seemed. Exasperation set in as he turned back and asked, “These flowers are for my notes?”</p><p>Still the Forest King stared, his eyes shifting eagerly between Levi’s bag and the flowers. Their glow drew him, even though they weren’t looking directly at him - a fact Levi was distantly surprised to find he resented. He wanted to see them fully, to be their <em> sole </em> focus, to make them gleam and sparkle the way he implicitly knew they could. He hated to look away, but did, knowing the way to win the Forest King’s favor rested among the grove’s vibrant sea of petals. Further among them did he venture, keeping the trace of his fingers gentle and light as he let himself continue to explore their bizarre beauty.</p><p>Something bumped against his shoe, crunched beneath his step. Before he fully realized what was happening, he looked down at his feet, and in an instant the fog froze and shattered into a cacophony of screams.</p><p>Levi threw himself away from the brittle skeleton so quickly he stumbled over himself, toppling down to the ground. Scrambling to recover, his horrified eyes glanced across more decaying remains scattered across the forest floor. He felt hands on his shoulders and instinctively batted them away - when he looked up, terror still coursing through his veins, he came face-to-face with the Forest King, separated by only a mere few inches from his look of blank confusion.</p><p>He swallowed. Wanted to back away. Couldn’t, for fear of trampling over more bones. Getting trapped in a prison of blossoming vines. His ultimate fate had been made explicitly clear: he would die here, another sacrifice to appease the Forest King. Pushed to the very ends of his wits, he grit his teeth, summoning forth every ounce of rebellious rage he could muster. He <em> needed </em> that reckless abandon, now more than ever.</p><p>Levi forced a scowl upon his brow, taking minor triumph in the Forest King’s recoil. “I don’t <em> want </em> your flowers!” he screamed, masking his fear with rage. He pulled around his backpack to shove a hand inside and dig around its contents. He found its inner side pocket in record time, and the tiny plastic pack within, and yanked it out. “I appreciate the gesture,” he grit out to try and stave off the Forest King’s inevitable fury, meanwhile fumbling with the package of trail mix to rip it open and dump its contents into his palm. He gathered his strength, just enough to loudly declare, “I want to go home.” A collection of nuts and dried fruit in hand, he turned over the Forest King’s hand and offered it all, then held out the rest of the bag for the Forest King to take. “To the city,” he concluded. “Where I <em> belong</em>.”</p><p>For a short while, Levi couldn’t tell if the Forest King were angry, hurt, or simply shocked. A part of him regretted his boldness, certain he’d crossed the only line staying the creature’s fabled savagery. Sure enough, before his very eyes, he saw that raw, rampant emotion consume the Forest King, his lips pulling back into a snarl and his hands growing rigid as he rose to his full, dominating height. His chest swelled with air, to soon be burst out in a loud, tormented howl that tore through the forest.</p><p>Levi froze in place - but only fleetingly so, his keen eyes snapping to the Forest King’s side. <em> Now’s my chance! </em> He bolted, ducking through the narrow gap the Forest King left exposed amid his cries.</p><p>He’d only managed to put a handful of yards between them before the wailing began to warp, the telltale sign that the Forest King had decided to act on his rage. Levi put all his faith in the adrenaline fueling him, hoping beyond all hope it’d be enough to outpace his hunter. The memory of the corpses beneath the flora continued to haunt him, inspiring him to push himself just a bit further, just a bit faster…</p><p>
  <em> “Nuts. Dried fruit. Jerky. Wooden top. It’s all there?” </em>
</p><p>Levi blinked, eyes growing wide.</p><p>
  <em> “Don’t let the Forest King snatch ya!” </em>
</p><p>His feet suddenly skidded to a halt. Still, his heart pounded away, and his body shook with nervous energy as it examined the thoughts crossing his mind. Was he crazy?</p><p>Levi glanced over his shoulder, the bounding silhouette of the Forest King fast approaching. <em> The Forest King doesn’t eat people. He’s not hunting kids for food. Why, then, would he kill them? </em></p><p>He swallowed. Turned around fully. Stood his ground.</p><p>
  <em> “They say the Forest King used to live here.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Levi scoffed, beating out the last of Professor Zoë’s erasers. “What, did he get evicted? Couldn’t pay his rent?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “I meant as a boy, Ackerman.” The Professor looked up from the papers they were grading, peering at him over their rectangular, half-rimmed glasses. “That he got lost in the forest and never found his way back.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Forgot his compass?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “You’re missing the point.” They smirked. “Or, if it’s anything like your schoolwork, you get it, but you’re pretending not to as a pretense for talking longer.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Levi glared at them. They shrugged, then continued on. </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Things aren’t always the way they seem. Sometimes, they seem that way because that’s how we’re looking at them…” They passed Levi a pointed look. “Or because they think they should.” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> Levi rolled his eyes, dropping the cleaned erasers back in place along the chalkboard’s rail and moving to fetch his backpack. “So, if I ever see this ‘Forest King,’ I should… what, invite him in for tea?” </em>
</p><p>
  <em> “Might not be a bad place to start,” the Professor offered with a shrug. They nodded, dismissing Levi from the classroom with a final parting word of advice. “And maybe do you work properly the first time around. Promise I won’t tell!” </em>
</p><p>The Forest King broke from the bushes. His eyes were wild, his teeth bared, his hands raking through the air. He paused only long enough to roar once more, then lunged.</p><p>“I’ll stay!!!”</p><p>Pointed nails pressed to his neck, but stopped just short of piercing his flesh. The Forest King’s body was hunched over, mouth gaping, eyes locked upon Levi’s. But, terrible as he appeared, he remained still, and if Levi tried hard enough he could see the faint impression of hope lurking behind the visage of a snarling beast.</p><p>It was working? Was he right? Levi wet his tongue. “I… I’ll stay,” he repeated, though it was more to build up his own certainty than for the Forest King’s benefit. “You’re… lonely, right?”</p><p>The Forest King winced. Levi cringed, wondering if he’d overstepped. But then, the Forest King’s hand drew back - just slightly, just enough to give Levi a little more space.</p><p>Levi grit his teeth. If he was right, then… He dreaded to think about what it meant for him.</p><p>“You didn’t… <em> want </em> to kill them,” he murmured, watching the Forest King’s expression soften with every word he spoke. Pain began to show through the anger, and Levi was beginning to suspect the ache in his chest was less from fear and running and more for the sympathy taking root within him. “You were upset, right? That they wanted to leave? And you…” He hesitated, reflexively shuddering as the bones flashed across his mind once more. “You… <em> reacted </em> the only way you know how. Because no one’s ever shown you what else to do.”</p><p>At last, the Forest King’s hand fell. His mouth pressed together, fidgeting with indecision over how to shape itself. He stood, but remained slumped as he backed away. His eyes left Levi to dump their frustration upon the ground. Their guilt.</p><p>All of Levi’s anxiety swept out of him in a heavy sigh. A bit of fear lingered, wondering what the future might hold, throwing a final, ditch effort to convince Levi to continue fleeing. But Levi already knew: what choice did he have? If he didn’t stay, he’d die, just like the others. If he did… sure, it meant he’d never again return to the city, but what really was waiting for him there? What, <em> really</em>, did he have to go back to? Schoolwork? Law enforcement? Some stuffy desk job? His friends had moved on. His uncle was… probably in jail. Again. For all the grief he gave them, Professor Zoë was probably the only person who would actually miss him - and it seemed perfectly clear to him what they’d want for him.</p><p>And… if he was honest with himself… While he couldn’t be sure this was really what <em> he </em> wanted, he felt certain whatever that was, whatever he was searching for… He wouldn’t find it back in the city.</p><p>Levi’s hand lifted, as if with a mind of its own, and slid its fingertips along the Forest King’s jaw. The Forest King grew still. Distrusting. Confused, perhaps, by what Levi was doing - certainly, the unfamiliar could be quite disorienting, even for a Forest King. Levi snickered at the thought, but nonetheless erected a firm furrowing of his brow, even as his thumb took to gently stroking the Forest King’s cheek.</p><p>“You don’t have to be lonely anymore. You… You have me, now. So, no more kidnapping children, okay?”</p><p>It clearly surprised the Forest King, to say the very least. His mouth fell ajar with disbelief… then broke into a strange, toothy smile. It opened just a bit wider to emit an odd sound, something halfway between a bleat and a coo. The strange sound made Levi chuckle, and soon his other hand rose to lay opposite the first. With the Forest King’s face cupped in his palms, Levi pulled him close, until their foreheads touched. A gentle smile played across his lips, and even with his eyes closed he knew the same had befallen the Forest King.</p><p>When had Levi ever felt such peace?</p><p>“Why don’t you show me all those flowers of yours?”</p>
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